


Surpassing All Else

by Feralmaeda



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Anyways, Byakuya keeps throwing books at people, Character Turned Into a Ghost, Fluff, I don’t think the Major Character Death tag applies since he’s already, M/M, Makoto is basically illiterate, Panic! At the Library, Rating May Change, There’s gonna be some uhh gore descriptions kinda, WARNING: Byakuya’s a fucking uhhhhhh Ghost, Will Makoto fuck the ghost? We’ll see, because Genocider Syo, dead, the ghost is pretty and Makoto has no braincells, y’know
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-16
Updated: 2019-04-16
Packaged: 2020-01-10 18:59:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,674
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18413939
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Feralmaeda/pseuds/Feralmaeda
Summary: Makoto Naegi, the Ultimate Lucky Student of Class 78, seems to have landed himself in a bit of a predicament.There’s a ghost in the school library, and Makoto’s not exactly sure what to do about it, but he’s adamant that he has to do something.The ghost’s stuck because he has unfinished business, right? Maybe Makoto can do something to help...Crushing on the ghost wasn’t supposed to be that something, but here he is. It’s kind of getting in the way of his investigation.Alternate Title: Makoto “Monsterfucker” NaegiAlternate Alternate Title: Byakuya is less dead than Makoto’s heterosexuality





	Surpassing All Else

**Author's Note:**

> So basically? Hi, I’m gay for Makoto Naegi and upset by the dwindling number of naegami content here. I also want to try my hand at writing (and FINISHING) a multichapter fic, so.. Win-win. Anyways. This is mostly exposition. Things will pick up speed next chapter. Hopefully.

Makoto Naegi realized soon after he began attending Hope’s Peak Academy that there was never a truly quiet moment, at least not during the day. Someone was always doing something, and, more often than not, it was something loud or grand that easily drew the attention of anyone around.

This wasn’t exactly one of those times, but it was fairly close.

Yasuhiro had sprinted up to him and Leon a little while ago, where they sat on the courtyard’s bench, his mouth running a mile a minute and his expression twisted into one of almost comedic fright.

To be honest, Makoto hadn’t exactly been paying attention, rather staring idly at the mostly blank notebook in his lap, as he had been for the past five minutes at least. There were a few doodles in the margins, and sloppy, four word notes, but that was about it. He was content to start penciling in a small pattern he’d made earlier, but Makoto was startled into hearing the conversation beside him by the sudden rise in volume.

“I’m tellin’ you!” Yasuhiro cried, gesticulating furiously fast in his anxious haste, “There’s somethin’ in there! It’s definitely some kinda ghost! It threw at book at me! I wasn’t doin’ anything!”

As Leon laughed obnoxiously at that, Makoto mused for a moment over both his claim and the fact that, by some miracle, Yasuhiro’s jacket still clung tight to his shoulders, somehow stubborn enough to refuse sliding to the ground. He was snapped out of these thoughts by large hands grabbing his shoulders and shaking him frantically.  
“C’mon, Naegichi, you believe me, right?” The man pleaded, eyes wide, “D’ya think we should exorcise it or something?“

Makoto, momentarily frozen as he regained his bearings, took a couple moments to answer, “W-well, I mean, we should find them first, right? To see if they’re really a mean ghost or if it was just an accident?” Leon tossed one of the chips he was snacking on at Makoto, garnering his attention, “You don’t really believe him, do ya, Naegs? I mean, seriously, a ghost in the library? That’s super cliché, don’tcha think?” The brunet simply shrugged, smiling, “Well, better safe than sorry, right? Best to know for sure if there’s a ghost or not, and if there is one, it’s best to know if they’re nice or not.”

Makoto wasn’t about to say it aloud, but he was really pretty curious. A ghost, huh? Every school has their stories, and being as knowledgeable about Hope’s Peak as he was (he admits, he did his best to learn about more than just his new classmates on the forums), he was intrigued that he’d never heard of it before.

Leon shook his head, clearly amused, and popped another chip into his mouth before balling up the empty bag, “I mean, I guess I get it. Just in case, yeah? You guys gonna go on a ghost hunt?”  
Makoto shrugged, looking back up to Yasuhiro questioningly, “Maybe? Are we gonna?”

Yasuhiro balked for a moment, emitting something like a low whine, before he did his best to steel himself, “Y-yeah! We’re gonna find that ghost, and we’re gonna do something about it!”

Makoto grinned easily, glad to see his friend facing something that scared him with apparent enthusiasm, and shut his notebook, sliding it into the bag at his hip before standing.

“Maybe we should go soon?” He suggested, adjusting his jacket’s hem, “You kinda saw the ghost recently, right? It might still be right there, so we wouldn’t have to do too much searching!”

It was obvious that his older classmate hadn’t expected to go so soon, his brave face dropping a little, “U-uh, well, maybe? You can go do that right now if you wanna, I was near the back when it attacked me! I’ve gotta.. I’ve gotta go do some other stuff first, alright? You can go on ahead!”

With that, Yasuhiro fled, sprinting towards the main building as fast as he had arrived in the courtyard.  
Beside Makoto, Leon once again laughed uproariously, “Damn, the dude’s a weenie! He just totally backed out on you! You still gonna go, Naegs? If you are, I’ll let everyone know that if we don’t see you at class tomorrow, the ghost got you.”

The brunet simply smiled, shrugging lightly, “I.. I guess I’m still gonna go. I want to know if there really is a ghost or not. Do you want to come too?”  
The rockstar wannabe shook his head, waving off Makoto’s invitation with a careless flick of his wrist, “Nah, you go on, have fun playing paranormal investigator, I’m gonna stay here. That upperclassman I was telling you about is gonna meet up with me later and give me some guitar lessons.”

“Oh, alright,” Makoto acknowledged cheerfully, beginning to take the first step towards the main building, “Have fun then, I’ll see you later!”

So, back of the library, Yasuhiro had said, right? How far back? Hope’s Peak’s archives were well known to be impressively extensive, containing volumes of books both fresh from the press and those thought to be lost to time. If you knew where to look for the latter, that was.

Probably the very back, Makoto decided after a few more minutes deliberation as he walked, since ghosts tend to avoid people. Right?

..Maybe he should text Komaru, she knew a lot more about this kind of thing than he did.

By the time Makoto realised that option was open to him, he had already passed through the doors of the main building and was stood before the library, and decided that he could ask after taking a look. If he didn’t find the ghost on his own first, then he could ask Komaru for advice.

He opened the door slowly, peering in through the doorway with suspicion before taking a step in when he knew it to be clear.

Makoto didn’t find it surprising that the room was devoid of other students, since it was the weekend, and was suddenly grateful that it was. Without anyone there to question him, he wouldn’t have to answer that he’s looking for an alleged ghost.

The brunet began to make his way through the labyrinth of shelves, very nearly tripping over a book a time or two. Occasionally, he would come to a dead end, and had to turn around, and it took him probably ten minutes to get to what he could tell was the back wall.

There was an open space before it, a few comfortable-looking chairs scattered about artfully with tables and lamps beside them. A couple of the side tables were stacked with books, and the towers’ owners obviously had different priorities.

One was clearly dominated by textbooks and various pale tan folders, which Makoto guessed probably contained essays or statistics.

The other, from what he could see, looked more like lots of fiction, though he didn’t recognise too many of the covers. Curiously, he sat down in that seat, gently picking up one of the books.

After checking for a bookmark so that he didn’t accidentally make the real reader lose their place, Makoto read quietly over the cover as well as he could. He hadn’t noticed at first, but it was in English, something that he didn’t exactly excel at.

After struggling through the first sentence of the sleeve summary enough to have a small idea of what was going on, Makoto was startled from his side investigation by movement in the corner of his vision. _Oh._

Instead of whipping his head around like he wanted to, his nervous energy made his lurch forward a little, peering as inconspicuously as he could into the shadowed area by the bookshelf that caught his eye.

There, just barely, he could see the faded outline of someone else.

They were tall, Makoto noticed first, definitely much taller than him. As he watched, unwilling to blink, he could see the movement that had attracted his gaze.

The outline he could see was coruscating, bleeding out into the air surrounding the figure like ink in water. Makoto could see hints of color in it, gold and blue and white and maybe some black, but he couldn’t tell with the shade’s interference.

That was definitely the ghost.

As Makoto watched, the figure’s shoulders rose for a moment, the minute so minute that it took a moment for Makoto to recognize it as an indicator of the ghost probably sighing.

Were they sad? He would probably be sad too, if he was a ghost.

The figure began to move towards Makoto then, and his eyes snapped back to the book in front of him. Maybe the ghost didn’t know he’d seen them.

Swallowing to wet his suddenly dry throat, Makoto did his best to focus on reading instead of the presence that was now just behind him.

“Neil Gaiman’s The Graveyard Book,” a voice behind him spoke, and Makoto shuddered in a different way than he would’ve expected. The voice was low and smooth, an elegant cadence present that one would expect of nobility, and Makoto found himself thinking that he wouldn’t mind hearing it more. Luckily for him, the ghost continued to speak, “Somewhat amusing, considering the circumstance of where he is. Though he looks fairly illiterate.”

Oh.

The ghost was talking to himself. About Makoto.

Makoto bit his tongue to restrain himself from refuting the insult(?) and looking up at the ghost, who he could _feel_ towering over him.

After a few more moments of silence, the ghost sighed lightly again, a cold breeze coiling its way through Makoto’s hair and around his nape, and then the brunet felt warmth that he hadn’t realized had left when the ghost moved away.

Once Makoto was completely sure that the ghost had left, he quickly set the book back on the haphazard stack and got out of the library as fast as he could.

Oh, god, he’d just met a real _ghost!_

..And Yasuhiro was kind of right about their attitude..


End file.
